The Biggest Box-Office Bombs Of 2012

Kate Beckinsale's "Total Recall" remake didn't totally take off this summer at theaters. Sony Pictures / Columbia While "The Avengers" and "The Dark Knight Rises" both saw more than $1 billion at the box office worldwide this year, there were many films which came up short at theaters.

From Kate Beckinsale and Jennifer Aniston to Judd Apatow to Disney's Andrew Stanton, big name actors and producers were not spared from big losses at theaters this year.

We've taken a look at 25 of this year's biggest box-office busts, surprises, and upsets which failed to hit the mark with audiences.

We came up with our rankings based on comparisons of the film's budgets with domestic and worldwide intake and opening weekend expectations versus actual intake.

One thing's for sure, life after "Friday Night Lights" has not been kind to Taylor Kitsch.

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25. "Mirror Mirror"

There was only room for one "Snow White" film this summer. Julia Roberts' lighthearted take on the fairytale tanked at the box office when it earned $18 million of its estimated $85 million budget opening weekend. The Relativity movie was expected to debut between $22 and $24 million opening weekend.

Though the film ended up earning $166.2 million worldwide, domestically "Mirror Mirror" brought in $64.9 million.

22. "Premium Rush"

Joseph Gordon-Levitt had a great run with movies this year between "The Dark Knight Rises," "Looper," and, now, "Lincoln." However, the Batman actor couldn't go four for four with Sony's "Speed"-like bicycle film.

21. "Part of Me"

Katy Perry's break out film performed nowhere near as well as other singer documentaries. Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never" earned $29.5 million while the Jonas Brother's "3D Concert Experience" grossed $12.5 million opening weekend. Bieber's film went on to earn near $100 million worldwide.

The problem with Perry's movie; however, may not have been the film itself, and, rather, it's crowded release date. The same weekend, "Part of Me" competed with "Ted," "Magic Mike," and "The Amazing Spider-Man."

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20. "Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike"

If you never heard of "Atlas Shrugged II," the sequel to the 2011 film (yes, there was a first one) you weren't the only one. The film, based on Ayn Rand's novel, was poorly marketed and often became confused with Tom Hanks' "Cloud Atlas" since the two came out within weeks of each other. The film quickly dropped out of nearly 1,000 theaters by week three.

18. "Chasing Mavericks"

2012 has not been a good year for Gerard Butler. In less than two months he has had two box-office busts. The first was this surfing film. After two weeks in theaters, "Mavericks" was pulled out of more than 1,500 theaters. Only left in less than 70 theaters, the film won't earn back an estimated $14 million.

12. "Total Recall"

Despite the buzz and viral marketing, both audiences and critics didn't approve of Len Wiseman's remake of Arnold Schwarzenegger's '90s sci-fi thriller. No one ever seemed prepared for a reimagining of the cult classic, and the film was never expected to do better than $25 million in its debut.

10. "Rise of the Guardians"

One of the biggest surprises of the film year was the movie on which DreamWorks Animation bet most of its fourth quarter earnings. "Rise of the Guardians." The company's stock dropped nearly five percent the Monday following the film's severe underperformance. Like the success of animated movies before it ("How to Train Your Dragon" and the "Shrek" franchise), the cartoon featuring holiday mascots was expected to earn near $60 million.

Our best guess for the film's performance deals not with the weekend in which it debuted, but rather, the movie material. The audience demo for a film about the Easter Bunny and Santa was roughly young elementary school boys who were already past the faze of knowing Santa was anything but real. Younger boys who may have had an interest in the film may have been deterred by parents who found the situation material too dark and violent for 5, 6, and 7 year olds.

We don't have it up higher on our list because with no other holiday films out, the film should make up for some of its losses through the end of the year.

8. "Dark Shadows"

Though audiences were enchanted with Johnny Depp's portrayal of wacky characters in "Alice in Wonderland" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," his take on the gothic soap opera of the late '60s missed its mark at theaters. "Dark Shadows" was thought to make well north of $35 million, and, at best $50 million.

4. "Dredd 3D"

The tale of "Dredd" is an interesting one. Anyone who saw the reboot, loved the film. Reviews for the film were greatly positive. The problem with this movie - other than targeting fans of the comics - was Lionsgate's marketing along with poor word of mouth. Since the film was primarily advertised as 3D, it wasn't clear to audience's "Dredd" was readily available in the less expensive 2D as well.

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3. "Cloud Atlas"

Big actors do not mean big bucks at theaters. Though visually aesthetic, the film adaptation may have been too complicated for viewers to understand. The film comprised of Tom Hanks and Halle Berry, among others, playing multiple roles across six different stories from the past and future.

1. "John Carter"

Disney expected Andrew Stanton, director of "Finding Nemo" and "WALL-E," to deliver another box-office winner; however, the alien film never had a chance. Poor marketing and changing the film's title from "John Carter of Mars" spelled disaster for the Mouse House.